Colston Bassett Stilton PDO – Neal’s Yard Dairy

CHARACTERISTICS

One of the world’s great blue cheeses, along with French Roquefort and Italian Gorgonzola. Colston Bassett Stilton has a rich, buttery texture with a minerally tang. It’s full bodied without being sharp or overpowering, and has a mellow, fruity, savoury complexity.

A little history about Stilton

Stilton was the first English cheese to be granted legal name protection under the PDO* system. It is made by just six producers in the counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. Of these, the cooperative in the village of Colston Bassett is one of the smallest. Stilton has been made at Colston Bassett & District Dairy since 1913. Apart from a brief pause during World War II (when the dairy was obliged to make “national cheese” – a hard, industrial cheese similar to Colby – due to war-time food rationing). Colston Bassett Dairy takes its milk from just five farms that are very close to the dairy. Billy Keven is the Head Cheesemaker, one of only four in the past one hundred years!

Unlike most other Stilton (produced by both Colston Bassett and other dairies), this particular hand ladled Colston Bassett Stilton – developed in partnership with Neal’s Yard Dairy in London – is made using traditional animal rennet. This results in a cheese with a milder blue character but with a richer, more complex cheese flavour and a longer finish. If you try this Colston Bassett Stilton alongside the regular version (made with non-animal rennet), you will notice the difference.